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Duelists rise in rank according to their success in their duels. Ranks are assigned according to the number of Wins over Losses, abbreviated WoL, a duelist maintains.
All duelists start at the rank of Apprentice. As they advance, they will gain a focus up to the maximum of three, which is achived at Wizard. Once a duelist becomes a Mage, they will gain one of the two mage spells. When standings are posted, each duelist's focuses and extra spells will be listed by their name, along with their current record and last activity date. Standings are posted weekly before the first Friday night of each dueling week. A duelist's rank does not change until the standings are updated, so if you gain enough WoL to advance in rank on Friday night, you will remain at your current rank until the next standings, and will not be able to use the extra focus or spell until then.
| Rank | Requirement |
| Apprentice: | Less than 2 WoL |
| Enchanter: | 2 WoL |
| Sorcerer: | 5 WoL |
| Wizard: | 10 WoL |
| Mage: | 15 WoL |
| Mage Emeritus: | Former Archmagi of the Mage rank |
| Keeper: | By challenge or tournament |
| Archmage: | By challenge as tournament prize |
There are two spells available to choose from upon reaching the rank of Mage: Nether Ray and Immolation. As stated in the game guide, they fit different purposes, but Magi may only hold one at a time. It is the duelists' responsibility to check the standings and notify the Standings Keeper of their spell selection, but upon so doing, the latest standings will be edited to reflect this choice as soon as it is received. If a duelist does not choose a spell, they will have a ?? in their extra spell column on the standings, and will not be able to use either of the mage spells. Basically, a duelist may not use a spell they are not listed as having. If a duelist drops below the rank of Mage, they will lose their mage spell, but will regain it upon reaching Mage again. If a duelist doesn't like the spell they've chosen, they may message the Standings Keeper to change it, but only twice per cycle.
However, the two exceptions are the ranks of Archmage and Mage Emeritus. The Archmage may use both of the mage spells freely in every duel. For Magi Emeriti, they may use the mage spells on a duel by duel basis. They must verbally state before each duel which of the two mage spells they will be using, or they will not be able to use either. It's easy to forget to make this choice, so for the Emeritus's convenience, they may message the Standings Keeper to select a default mage spell. This spell will be underlined on the standings, and the Emeritus will only have to state their spell if they wish to use the one that isn't their default.
The awesome spell Elemental Fury is usually only available to Keepers, which are detailed further below, but there are situations where special items will be distributed by either the Keepers or the Coordinators. They are Keeper Gems and Tornadoes in Jars. These items represent single uses of Elemental Fury, and they may be used in any regular duel, against any opponent. Rather than trying to keep track of used up gems or empty jars, these items will be tracked on the standings, in the extra spell column, as (EFx#) where # is the number of these items that a duelist currently has. Whenever one of these is used, a caller should make note of it in the shift report, so that it may properly be subtracted from the standings.
Each Duel of Magic cycle will last nine weeks. At the end of each cycle, duelists that have been inactive for three cycles, or approximately 6 months, will be removed from the standings, unless they send a message to the Standings Keeper stating that they wish to remain on the standings. However, their records will be kept for future reinstatement. There are two ways to be reinstated: send a message to the Standings Keeper requesting it, or it will be done automatically after a retired duelist fights two duels.
Also at the end of each cycle, a record purge will occur. The losses will be subtracted from wins and removed. For example, if a duelist has 15 wins and 7 losses, they will have 8 wins and 0 losses at the start of the next cycle. Ties are also removed. Any duelist with zero or fewer WoL will be removed from the standings, effectively setting their WoL to zero. They will be placed back on with their next duel. This allows relief for duelists with negative WoL. The removal from the standings is mainly to prevent clutter in the Apprentice rank.
The Ring of Klytus is a powerful magical artifact that is awarded to the duelist with the most exemplary dueling performance of the cycle. Every duelist will be listed with their win ratio on a separate page of the standings (click Cycle Rankings), which is separated into three brackets. The bottom bracket lists duelists with less than four duels. The middle bracket lists duelists with four to seven duels. The top bracket lists duelists with eight or more duels. The bracket placement takes precedence over win ratio; that means a duelist with a 25% win ratio and four duels ranks above a duelist with a 66% win ratio and three duels. The duelist with the highest ranking at the end of the cycle will be awarded the Ring of Klytus, and will hold it until the end of the next cycle when it is awarded again. It may be declined, though, and will thus be offered down the ranking until a duelist accepts it.
The Ring of Klytus is not just a sign of exemplary performance, though. Any duelist who holds it will be able to use one extra focus in addition to what they already have, up to the maximum of three. However, it offers no dueling advantage to duelists of the Wizard rank or above; you cannot use a mage spell with the Ring. This is the primary reason for being able to decline the ring. The holder of the Ring of Klytus will both be stated in the news area of the standings, and italicized in the standings themselves. They will also be listed in the Duel of Magic histories for the Ring of Klytus.
When a duelist reaches the rank of Mage, they may seek out a duelist to mentor. This duelist will be known as a Neophyte. They may perform this search any way they wish, be it an unofficial tournament, or an arbitrary selection based on any criteria they want. They can even just pick one out of the blue. A mage may only have one Neophyte at a time. The Neophyte sub-title is functionally identical to the Ring of Klytus, with the following exception: their mentor must be present in order to gain the benefit. It may stack upon the Ring of Klytus, but not beyond the benefit of three focuses. Once a Neophyte becomes a Mage, they are automatically released from their Mage's mentorship. When a duelist is a Neophyte, they are listed on the standings with their mentor listed beside them. A Mage may release their Neophyte at any time, but they may only gain a new one once per cycle.
A Keeper is a duelist who maintains control over one of the Isle's four elemental towers, and the element associated with it. Anyone with the rank of Enchanter or above may become a Keeper. However, unlike the titles in Swords and Fists, Keeper is not a separate rank, but a title that is added onto their current rank. Thus, Keepers will be highlighted in gold on the standings.
In order to remain a Keeper, the duelist must duel at least once per month. Activity requirements are greater for Keepers due to holding one of the only four challengeable titles in the sport. If these requirements are not met, the Keeper will be stripped of their title, and it will be offered in a tournament, usually the next All-Ranks Tournament. It is not required for the Keeper to remain at the rank of Enchanter or above, but if they fall below that rank, they are immediately rendered vulnerable to challenge without any grace period.
The Keepers have an extra spell at their disposal called Elemental Fury. It is incredibly powerful, but may only be used once per duel against other Keepers, and during challenge matches. As always, its incarnation will vary from duelist to duelist, but it will always involve the Keeper's element. They will also be listed in the Duel of Magic histories for their respective tower.
There are two ways to become a Keeper: by challenge, or by victory in a tournament offering a tower.
Anyone meeting the following criteria may render challenge to a Keeper for their title:
- Holds the rank of Enchanter or above.
- Has been an active member of the Duel of Magic for at least two weeks.
- Has not challenged in the last 30 days.
- Has not lost a Keeper title in the last 30 days.
- Does not already hold a Keeper title. In order to obtain a different tower, the Keeper must first retire their current title and then challenge. This does not count as losing a Keeper title.
Challenges must be rendered as threads posted on the Duel of Magic corkboard. One of the Coordinators will then verify that the challenger meets the criteria. The Keeper must then respond with their acceptance within one week. A Keeper may not refuse any valid challenge. The challenger and the Keeper must then find a caller to officiate their match and agree on a date and time for it to take place. It is preferred that it does not take place during DoM's regular dueling hours, but it is understood that it is often difficult to get schedules to line up conveniently. Details on caller and time/date should be posted as replies to the challenge thread.
Both duelists are expected to show up on time. In the case of either duelist being absent thirty minutes after the scheduled time, the match will be rescheduled for a date preferrably within a week of the original challenge date. If the same duelist continues to be absent for two reschedules after the initial failure to appear, that duelist will lose the challenge by default.
Should a Keeper fail to respond to a challenge issued to them within one week, the challenge will then be out of that Keeper's hands. It will be fought by a champion on their behalf. The first champion selected will be the Keeper of the opposite element. For example, should the Keeper of Earth fail to respond to a challenge, the Keeper of Air will be selected to fight as the Keeper of Earth's champion. If the selected champion declines, the other two Keepers will be asked to volunteer to champion. There is no risk to the champion's own title. If the challenger wins, they become the Keeper of the element that they challenged. If the champion wins and the challenged Keeper is still not accounted for by the time the challenge is resolved, then the title will be stripped.
Every Keeper challenge will be held in Best of Three format. A minimum of two and a maximum of three duels will be fought, and the duelist who wins two duels will be the winner, and thus, the holder of the title. The defending Keeper will be allowed to use Elemental Fury once each duel, and both duelists will fight at rank.
Whenver there is a new Keeper, it will be official with the next standings. In the case of a defeated Keeper, they may not fight as a Keeper any longer, and the new Keeper may not fight as a Keeper until the new standings are posted. The new or defending Keeper may also optionally have a 30-day grace period during which no challenge may be rendered against them.
In all challenge duels and all tournament duels, there can not be a tie. If there is no duelist with a full point lead by round 15, the duel will continue until there is a proper victor.
Archmage is a unique title and rank, considered to be the top title in the Duel of Magic. There may only be one Archmage at a time. The Archmage is also the Celestial Keeper, with control over the Citadel of Stars. The Archmage is the Keeper of "Quintessence", the essence of magic itself. It is usually manifested as stars, but other manifestations can occur, and are welcome.
As the Archmage is also a Keeper, all rules pertaining to Keepers apply to Archmage, with a few exceptions. The Archmage is not challengeable via normal means, and can only be challenged by the winner of the Archmage Tournament, with the following exception. The Archmage must stay at 15 WoL or above, otherwise the title will become challengeable by anyone of Mage or Mage Emeritus rank. This challenge will work like any other Keeper challenge where the Keeper falls below their required rank, except for the aforementioned rank requirement. The Archmage will still not be permitted a grace period unless they regain 15 WoL. If the Archmage regains 15 WoL during the challenge process, the challenge must be followed through on, but no further challenges may be rendered.
The Archmage Tournament will take place in the final week of every cycle. It is a special tournament where only those ranked Magi and above may enter. The winner will challenge the Archmage for the title. As another exception to the Keeper rules as they apply to the Archmage, current Keepers can challenge if they win the Archmage Tournament. The current Archmage may not enter the Archmage Tournament. If for any reason there is no current Archmage, then the winner of the Archmage Tournament will automatically become the new Archmage.
The winner of the Archmage Tournament will then have a challenge match against the reigning Archmage, with the same rules as all other Keeper challenges. However, the Archmage will not be allowed to use Elemental Fury unless the challenger is another Keeper, in which case both will be able to use it for each duel. The rationale is that the Archmage already has enough of an advantage with both mage spells. The winner will be the Archmage for the next cycle, until the next Archmage Tournament.
In the case of an elemental Keeper winning an Archmage Challenge match, the Keeper's title will be retired, and a tournament will be held to determine the next Keeper. (Note: This clause of the rules of rank is subject to possible change very soon.)
Any dispute that is not clearly covered under the preceeding rules shall fall under the jurisdiction of the Duel of Magic Coordinator. This judgment shall be considered final and may only be overturned by the Forum Supervisor.
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